It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries, who have the laws in their favor; and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had actual experience of it. [“The Prince“]

What makes the climate predicament even tougher is the uneven nature of human development, and the reality that nearly all of the growth in emissions of greenhouse gases is coming from a near-inevitable burst of fossil fuel combustion in fast-growing developing countries. Machiavelli’s view of the sources of inertia was framed around a single society at a particular stage of economic evolution. “Beyond super wicked,” indeed.

This is why I focus on boosting societies’ innovative and adaptive capacity and building a “knowosphere” so ideas can be shaped and shared worldwide. I don’t begrudge others taking different approaches (although a fresh round of name-calling seems less than productive).

Still, this challenge is big enough that it’ll require all kinds of experimentation.

The key thing is to get engaged. We live at the most exciting moment I can think of in the history of the human species. And if you’re a communitarian and you go sit down in the street in Wall Street or you’re a libertarian and you want to invent the next great gadget beyond Steve Jobs that makes the world a better place…get out there.

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By 2050 or so, the human population is expected to pass nine billion. Those billions will be seeking food, water and other resources on a planet where humans are already shaping climate and the web of life. Dot Earth was created by Andrew Revkin in October 2007 -- in part with support from a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship -- to explore ways to balance human needs and the planet's limits.